The present invention relates to a new and distinct Dahlia plant botanically known as Dahlia variabilis and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Dapapu’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Rijsenhout, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was the development of freely flowering Dahlia cultivars with large flowers and a compact, upright growth habit.
The new cultivar is a naturally occurring whole plant mutation of the commercially available cultivar Dapavio, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,492, characterized by its red purple-colored ray florets, yellow-colored disc florets, dark green-colored foliage, and compact growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered as a single plant growing among plants of ‘Dapavio’ and selected by the inventor on Jan. 1, 2001 at Rijsenhout, The Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since January 2001 at Rijsenhout, The Netherlands and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.